SURNAMES IN ITALY

Carioti

This form is a variant of the surname Caridi.

Origin and meaning

G. Rohlfs proposes a Greek-Byzantine origin for this surname, with presence documented in the province of Reggio Calabria and extension towards the provinces of Cosenza and Catanzaro, as well as in areas of Naples and Sicily. He derives it from the Greek καρύδιον ("walnut"), and notes that in Greece the form Karidis survives. Along the same lines, P. Durante confirms the Greek origin and specifies that the base term is káryon, meaning "seller of walnuts".

F. De Laurentiis, on the other hand, proposes a different Sicilian and Calabrian origin, and links it not to Greek but to the Italian adjective caro, from which names, place names and affectionate nicknames would have been formed that then derived into a surname.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Calabria, Lucania, Salento

📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)

Drawing on 3 authors, this entry presents the different hypotheses about the origin of the surname, avoiding a single oversimplified explanation.

Sources

This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:

  • De Laurentiis, F. (2003). Cognomi occhiobellesi. Storia, curiosità, significati e classifiche. Occhiobello: Teatro Polivalente di Occhiobello (T.P.O.). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20030516113456/http://www.comune.occhiobello.ro.it/cognomi/
  • Rohlfs, G. (1974). Dizionario onomastico e toponomastico della Calabria: Prontuario filologico-geografico della Calabria. Longo Editore. Rohlfs, G. (1984). Dizionario storico dei cognomi della Sicilia orientale: Repertorio storico-etimologico. Centro di Studi Filologici e Linguistici Siciliani.
  • Bergamo, N. (2013, May 21). Impero Romano d'Oriente 330–1453 la sua storia. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.imperobizantino.it/